


Connections

by Katyakora



Series: Coldwestallen Week [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Bodyswap, ColdWestAllen Week 2016, Multi, Soulmate AU, vague discussion of cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8551813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katyakora/pseuds/Katyakora
Summary: Helping out a friend of Oliver's leads to the discovery and forging of some very odd connections.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ...meh, I've done better. Done worse, too.
> 
> For Coldwestallen Week Day 1: Soulmate AU
> 
> Takes place in some hazy future where Leonard Snart has been resurrected/found alive and is back on the Waverider

“So, what you’re saying is that I really, really should not have touched that,” Barry summed up contritely following the other man’s irritated rant.

 

“Shouldn’t have even bloody looked at it,” John Constantine grumbled, shooting Barry a scowl before going back to peering into the confines of the heavily engraved box now holding the statuette responsible for Barry’s predicament.

 

“At least I stopped it from falling into dangerous hands?” Barry pointed out weakly. He tried to stop his nervous fidgeting by crossing his arms, but had to abort the gesture because it felt wrong, his arms too short and a couple of things in the way forcing them at the wrong angle. He ended up running a hand through hair that was too long instead.

 

“There is that, at least,” John begrudgingly agreed. “Things could certainly have been a lot worse. Lucky you already know your soulmate so we can resolve this nice and quick. That’ll be a refreshing change of pace for me.”

 

“Wait, I’m sorry, my what?” Barry’s brain finally processed the bombshell John had just dropped.

 

“Your soulmate,” John repeated, smirking in amusement at Barry’s dumbfounded look.

 

“Woah, hold up; you’re saying that because that thing did this,” Cisco gestured expansively at Barry’s new form, “that means Iris is his actual, legit, til death and beyond, _soulmate_?”

 

“Weren’t any of you bloody listening?” John groaned.

 

“I was,” Caitlin piped up shyly. “You said it formed a bridge between connected souls.”

 

“Exactly, thank you. It’s what this little beastie was made for,” John explained, gesturing with the box and looking fairly exasperated. “It didn’t pick your bird at random, it gave you a physical connection to the soul you were already bound to. It was made to bring people together, the nasty side effects were all entirely unintentional. Certainly took the priestess who made it by surprise.”

 

“Nasty side effects like completely losing my sense of individual self, yeah, I heard that part loud and clear the first time,” Barry supplied sardonically. He tried to ignore how strange his voice sounded in his ears. He took a deep breath to keep himself from pacing; he’d almost rolled an ankle when he’d first tried to walk in Iris’s heels, and he was a little embarrassed to admit he couldn’t figure out how to undo all the complicated little clasps, especially now that he had fingernails that extended past his fingertips. “Okay, so I’m in Iris and she’s inside me-”

 

“Dude, phrasing,” Cisco interjected.

 

“-and as soon as she wakes up we just need to...reconnect?” Barry finished clarifying.

 

“That’s what the inscription says.”

 

“Please tell me it’s a true love’s kiss type deal,” Cisco gushed, clapping his hands together in delight. “That would be sickeningly sweet. And will definitely be in the speech I’ll be making at your inevitable wedding.”

 

“That would be pretty adorable,” Caitlin added as she walked back into the medical area to check on her unconscious patient.

 

“You better pray it’s just a kiss,” John answered darkly.

 

‘Woah, what that hell’s that supposed to mean?” Cisco demanded with a frown at the englishman.

 

“That means that millenia old inscriptions in dead languages have a tendency to be annoyingly vague or metaphorically. Both, on a bad day.”

 

“Well, yeah, but there’s only so many things that ‘reconnect’ could mean, right?” Barry asked hopefully, chewing his thumbnail nervously.

 

“You’d be surprised, mate,” John answered with a grimace. “Here’s hoping for no cannibalism.”

 

“Cuh-CANNIBALISM?!” Barry shrieked, fighting a sudden wave of nausea.

 

“Yeah, but your mate’s probably right, likely it’ll just be a kiss. Or a bit more, if you’re lucky,” the mage assuaged with a lecherous wink.

 

“She’s waking up!”

 

At the sound of Caitlin’s call, they all jumped to join her around the cot in the medical area as it’s occupant groggily shifted into a sitting position. It was oddly fascinating for Barry, to be watching his body move under the control of somebody else. At least it was someone he knew and trusted. It was his soulmate. He’d always felt that he and Iris had a deep connection, but it still blew his mind that they were literal soulmates, bound to be together. He felt light and giddy as the realisation finally sunk in. He watched with bated breath as eyes that were greener than he’d thought blinked open, squinting in the harsh light as they let the room come into focus.

 

“This is not the Waverider.” No one knew how to respond to the mumbled words. The figure on the bed looked around, still blinking hard. “Unless this is Hell. In which case, I’m not impressed.”

 

“Why would you be in Hell?” Barry blurted out, completely confused. The figure on the bed cocked their head at him with a look of disdain.

 

“Really, Miss West, where else would someone like me be headed?”

 

“You’re not Iris,” Caitlin gasped, taking a step back.

 

The person on the bed looked at her like she’d gone insane. “Of course not, why-” They cut themselves off, confusion seeping onto their face. “...what’s wrong with my voice?”

 

“This,” Cisco stated, holding up his phone so they could see their borrowed face. Their eyes went wide in shock.

 

“Scarlet?” they gasped. Barry felt his face blanche. There was only one person who called him that.

 

“SNART?!”

* * *

A sudden wave of disorientation hit Iris and she went from standing behind Cisco in the cortex to very nearly face-planting on a shiny metal floor. Instinct had her throw her hands out to break her fall. Immediately, a sense of wrongness overwhelmed her. Her knees, which were currently protesting being slammed into the metal floor, were a lot further from her core than they should have been. And then there was the fact that the large, slender hands she was holding herself up with were blatantly the wrong colour.

 

Her yelp of panic was far too deep.

 

“Jeez, Snart, you okay?” A concerned voice asked. Iris looked up to find herself surrounded by confused, concerned faces, in a room that looked like it belonged in one of Cisco’s beloved sci fi shows. Her panicked eyes fell on the first face she recognised.

 

“Professor?” she implored, curling back onto her haunches and shaking, her voice small and afraid and definitely not her own. “What's happened to me?” The rest of the room exchanged panicked looks.

 

“Mr Snart, I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Stein said gently, approaching slowly like she was a spooked animal. His words sunk in through her confusion and panic and she looked down at her pale hands and decidedly male body.

 

“Snart…? Am...am I in LEONARD SNART”S BODY?” Sure enough, her hand found the soft fuzz of a buzz cut when she touched her head and she now became aware of the weight of the Cold Gun strapped to her thigh. The last thing she remembered was standing in the cortex as Cisco absently explained that Barry had been asked by an associate of the Arrow to help him track down a legitimately magical artifact. That gave her a fairly good hunch as to how she might have ended up in this situation.

 

“You’re not Snart?” Mick Rory growled, one hand drifting to rest on top of his weapon. He wasn't the only one suddenly wary; Jax took a step closer to Stein and Sara shifted into a fighting stance, ready to move at the first sign of hostility.

 

“Considering you recognised me, I’m assuming we’re acquainted,” Stein pointed out reasonably, clearly prompting her to introduce herself.

 

“I’m Iris, Professor. Iris West.”

 

“Prove it,” Mick snapped instantly, still glaring at her.

 

“How?” Ray asked before Iris could. Mick rolled his eyes at him.

 

“Somebody who knows this chick asking a question only she’d know the answer to.”

 

“Oh, right.” Ray turned to Iris who was still hunched over on the floor. “Um, okay...oh, I know! Describe how we met.”

 

“Uh, it was a group dinner. You, me, Felicity, Barry and Eddie. You booked out the entire restaurant just for us.”

 

Ray smiled and nodded, oblivious to the mildly judging looks some of the others were giving him. “Yep, it's her.”

 

“Regardless,” Stein cut in, “it is best we find the source of Mr Snart and Miss West’s... predicament and rectify it. I don't suppose you know what the cause might be?”

 

“Not exactly,” Iris admitted, thinking about the sort of trouble Team Flash got into on a fairly regular basis. She rose to her feet, finally feeling some semblance of confidence now they she had a vague understanding of the situation. “But I have a pretty good idea.”

* * *

“You cannot be serious,” Leonard stated with a derisive curl to his lip that looked entirely out of place on Barry’s face. “This has to be some kind of mistake.”

 

“Afraid not, mate,” the blond englishman informed him cheerily. “That idol’s gotten a bit stronger over the centuries but it does what it does.” He grinned mockingly. “Brings intertwined souls together. A bona fide soulmate matchmaker.”

 

“Last time I checked, soulmates came in pairs.”

 

“Typically,” the blond conceded with a shrug. “But not always. Trios aren’t entirely unheard of.”

 

Leonard continued to stare at the stranger in cynical disbelief. Not in regards to the soulmate concept, he’d seen enough proof of that in Kendra and Carter. But the idea that he, a pessimistic master crook, was meant to be with a cop’s daughter and an actual, legitimate superhero was just too preposterous to contemplate. He steadfastly ignored the niggling little voice in the back of his mind that pointed out how often he’d gone out of his way to draw the Flash’s attention, how he’d started looking forward to reading the news ever since Iris started reporting, simply because he found her point of view and thoughts fascinating.

 

“Uh, guys? Do you mind giving us the room?” Barry asked tentatively, and it was strange to see what appeared to be fierce, headstrong Iris acting so hesitant. It made him wonder how Barry felt seeing Len in control of his body. He felt violated, no doubt, especially if the clearly troubled look on his face was any indication. The others had just left when a thought occurred to Leonard.

 

“Iris had better not do anything embarrassing with my body,” he grumbled. “Knowing the crew, there’ll be photographic evidence.”

 

“You are being weirdly calm about all this,” Barry commented with concern. Leonard rolled his eyes.

 

“What’s there to get upset about? Once the crew figures out what’s going on, they’ll head back here, your magician friend can fix this and then we can all forget this ever happened.”

 

“For once, I wish you were right,” Barry muttered, flopping down into a chair.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Well…” Barry suddenly couldn’t meet his eye. “John said that, according to the inscription, to fix this all we need to do is ‘reconnect’.” He used air-quotes for emphasis.

 

“And?” Leonard demanded impatiently.

 

“And it’s pretty vague on what exactly ‘reconnect’ means. Best case scenario is a kiss.” There was a clear blush spreading across his borrowed cheeks as he began to babble. “Which would already be super awkward, only we also have the whole being in the wrong body thing so I’ll basically be kissing myself but not-”

 

“And the worst case scenario?” Leonard spoke over him, vehemently not thinking about whether it would feel different to kiss using Barry’s mouth. Barry openly winced.

 

“Fingers crossed for no cannibalism.”

 

Leonard froze for a moment with a look of absolute disgust on his face before leveling Barry with a scowl.

 

“What the hell have you gotten me into, Scarlet?”

 

“Hey, it’s not like I did it on purpose! How was I supposed to know YOU were my soulmate?” Barry snapped back.

 

“Ugh, I’d almost managed to forget about that part.”

 

“Good thing I never pegged you for a romantic,” Barry deadpanned.

 

“The universe must be playing some kind of cosmic joke,” Leonard muttered, his annoyance turning to surprise when Barry actually looked confused by his words.

 

“Why?”

 

“Why?” Leonard parroted incredulously. “Have you _met_ me, Kid? You and West are good, law-abiding citizens; hell, you’re a goddamn hero, and I’m the guy it’s your job to stop. We’re enemies, Barry, not to mention I’ve got at least fifteen years on the pair of you; what part of that screams match made in heaven?”

 

“Okay, firstly, we’re, like, adversaries at worst-,”

 

“I take offence to that.”

 

“- Secondly, I’m pretty sure fate, or the universe, or whatever, doesn’t care how old we are. And thirdly, you’ve barely talked to Iris, how can you know she won’t be good for you?”

 

Leonard stared at him blankly for a moment. “You _are_ a romantic, aren’t you?”

 

“That...is true, but does not negate any of my points,” Barry admitted stubbornly. Leonard narrowed his eyes at him, confused by the odd, twisting feeling in his gut.

 

“I know her father will shoot me on principle the second we reverse this,” he shot back. “And why are you even fighting for this? Being connected to me must be your worst nightmare.”

 

Barry actually snorted at that, the act somehow delicate in Iris’s form. “Not even close. I actually like you, when you’re not actively trying to make my life difficult. I can think of way worse people to have for a soulmate, trust me.” He paused, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “And this means that I’m right about you.” He looked Leonard right in the eye. He’d seen that look once before, through bulletproof glass, and all the faith his gaze held was just as powerful, even from a different face. “There _is_ good in you. Nobody who shares a part of Iris’s soul could possibly be all bad.”

 

Or yours,Leonard thought but didn't say. He didn’t respond for a moment, too busy trying to wrap his head around the fact that Barry actually seemed to be okay with having him for a soulmate. And if there was any truth to his final statement, that certainly explained a lot of recent events.

 

“I’m officially blaming you two for every lapse of judgement I’ve ever had,” he finally stated dryly. Barry chuckled at that, his familiar, wicked smile just as beautiful in the same and different ways on Iris’s face. With that observation Leonard finally admitted to himself that there might be something to this whole soulmate idea after all. “But that goes both ways.”

 

Before Barry could respond, the sound of stomping feet echoed down the corridor to draw their attention. They both got up and moved to the main room to see who the new arrival might be.

 

“BARTHOLOMEW HENRY ALLEN YOU HAD BETTER HAVE A FIX FOR THIS!”

 

“Hi Iris,” Barry answered meekly as Iris stomped into the room, severally gleeful looking legends following in her wake. Her downright murderous scowl became perplexed at his response.

 

“Barry?”

 

“Uh, yeah.”

 

“So does that mean Snart is-”

 

“Riding Barry’s meatsuit?” Len interjected in a drawl from where he was leaning against a wall, drawing her attention. “Yeah.”

 

“Dude, phrasing!” Cisco squawked in horrified disgust. Len ignored him in favour of the novelty of observing himself. It was, frankly, bizarre. It was nothing like seeing himself on film. His own body appeared alien to him, his legs looked to long, his face paler than he thought it was. It didn’t help that the way Iris held his body, the way she moved, was all wrong, so very not him.

 

“Please say you know what the problem is,” Sara asked with a tired sigh.

 

“That we do, Miss Lance,” the brit assured her, making Sara’s head whip around in surprise.

 

“John Constantine?”

 

“Good to see you’re still up and kicking,” Constantine greeted her with a smile.

 

“Well, if you’re here, I’m sure we’ll fix this in no time.”

 

“While I appreciate your confidence in my skills, it’s out of my hands.” He jerked his head towards the body-swapped trio. “It’s up to them now.”

 

“What do you mean it’s up to us?” Iris asked. Constantine smirked at Barry, who flushed and sent his friends a pleading look.

 

“Okay, everybody out,” Caitlin ordered with all the authority of a medical professional. “Barry can explain the situation for Iris, so the rest of us are not needed. Out.” She barked the last word over every confused protest, ushering the legends along with a pointed glare, supported by Cisco following behind her making obnoxious shooing motions until Barry, Iris and Len were alone in the cortex.

 

“Okay, one of you had better explain to me what the hell is going on, right now!” Iris demanded with an impressive scowl.

 

“Uh, well, you see,” Barry stuttered, wringing his hands nervously. Len smirked from his spot against the wall. It was funny how Barry could be steadfast and confident one minute and a blushing ball of awkwardness the next. It was oddly endearing. Iris was apparently used to it, just staring him down with his arms crossed, waiting for him to spit it out. “The, uh, idol that Constantine was looking for. He told me not to touch it, but, uh, I kind of had to get it off the guy who was trying to sell it, so-”

 

“You touched it.”

 

“-I touched it,” Barry confirmed Iris’s dry statement. A mildly perturbed look crossed his face as he looked back and forth between them. “Ugh, this is so weird.”

 

Iris rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion that Leonard was rather proud of. “I am literally talking to myself. Trust me, you don’t need to tell me how weird this is.” Her gaze turned to Leonard, who simply cocked a brow at her. “What I don’t get is, why us?” Barry shuffled his feet, not looking her in the eye while Leonard just watched him squirm with an amused smirk.

 

“...turnsoutyou’remysoulmates.”

 

“What?”

 

Barry steeled himself with a deep breath. “Turns out, you’re my soulmates?” He somehow managed to turn the statement into a question, earning him a derisive look from Len.

 

Iris’s borrowed face ran through a gamut of emotions, which for Len was rather educational to watch. “You can’t be serious?” she asked finally. Len snorted.

 

“That’s exactly what I said.”

 

Iris shook her head, as though denial might somehow magically change their situation. “I mean, you, Barry, I get, that’s not really a surprise,” she admitted gesturing at her body. “But, come on, I barely know you,” she pointed out, gesturing at Len. Leonard pushed off the wall and sauntered over. It was really a shame that Barry’s body didn’t seem to have his speed when Barry wasn’t in it, Len could have had some fun with that.

 

“Look, princess, I’m not exactly thrilled about this either.”

 

“Okay, clearly we have a lot to talk about,” Barry interjected before Iris could respond. “Why don’t we sit down and talk this out _after_ we’re all back in the right body?”

 

“Please.” Iris shifted uncomfortably. “Preferably before I need to use the bathroom.” The thought of using the bathroom in their current condition had them all cringing. “Okay, so what do we do.”

 

“Constantine said that we just have to ‘reconnect’,” Barry explained. “The current theory on what exactly that means is that we have to kiss.”

 

“Okay,” Iris said with a heavy breath. “Uh, who first?” An awkward silence followed her words. “Oh, for the love of-”

 

Without preamble, she yanked Len forward by his collar and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. He hadn’t even had a chance to recover from his surprise before she did the same to Barry, and he found himself swallowing a little uncomfortably at the intriguing sight they made. “Now, you two.” Iris stated matter-of-factly as she pulled away, her composure belied by the embarrassing pink blush on her pale cheeks. Barry turned to Len, clearly nervous and no doubt weirded out by the prospect of kissing his own face. His nerves apparently translated into speed, because in the time it took Leonard to blink, Barry was kissing him, a firm press of plush lips. That was all Leonard registered before he felt an aggressive tugging sensation at his navel and, for the second time that day, the world tilted on it’s axis. He lost his balance as everything reoriented, staggering back...on high heels. He looked down at delicate, chocolate-colored hands and back up to see Barry running his hands over his body as though checking the sudden change was real.

 

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Len groaned.

 

“It didn’t work,” Iris sighed.

 

Barry frowned at the pair of them. “What are you talking about?”

 

“We switched, Scarlet,” Len explained with a glare. “That’s all.”

 

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Barry muttered. “Why would it work for me, but not you two. Maybe you should kiss again?”

 

“Worth a shot,” Iris conceded with a shrug. She initiated it again but lingered this time, apparently testing the theory that their first kiss had been too fast. Leonard went with it, closing his eyes and trying to match the sensation to what he’d felt when Barry kissed him. There was the warm, firm press of lips, the scrape of stubble since he hadn’t bothered shaving that morning, the slightest hint of mint of his toothpaste. Still, there was no tug. Iris started to pull away so he slipped a hand around her neck to keep her there, figuring they might as well thoroughly test for possible solutions. Iris was pulled a little off balance, her hands falling on his hips to steady herself, but she didn’t protest, rathered seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Their kiss deepened, the hint of tongue that neither would admit to making it far from chaste.

 

A soft choking noise pulled them apart. They turned in unison to see Barry staring at them, dumbstruck, his pupils blown wide and his cheeks as red as his suit. Leonard couldn’t resist.

 

“Enjoying the show, Scarlet?”

 

Barry choked again, and from the corner of his eye, Leonard could see Iris wore a smirk to match his own. “I, uh, guess that didn’t work, then?” Barry hedged, his voice a little hoarser than usual.

 

“It did not,” Iris confirmed, sighing. “I don’t get it. Why would it work for you two, but not for us?”

 

“I actually may have a theory on that,” Barry mused, looking thoughtful. “Let me just go run it by Constantine.” In a flash, he was gone, leaving Leonard and Iris standing awkwardly in the middle of the cortex. Unsure of what to say after their little impromptu makeout session, Len elected to ignore her, instead familiarising himself with yet another new body. Where Barry was all long limbs and lean muscle, much like Len himself, Iris was petite with a completely different centre of gravity. He tensed and was pleased to feel the steel of muscle beneath her soft curves. Looking down at his suddenly feminine form, he decided to indulge an old curiousity. Shifting his weight to one foot, he flicked his hips to the side in a sharp, staccato motion.

 

“Oh, that is much easier,” he muttered, the flow of movement far smoother and less difficult than it had been with his narrower hips.

 

“What the hell are you doing?”

 

“Testing a theory,” he nonchalantly answered Iris’s indignant question. “Surprise, surprise, your body is somewhat better suited to belly dancing than mine.”

 

“Wait, _you_ know how to bellydance?” she exclaimed incredulously.

 

“I’m a man of many talents.”

 

Iris leaned back against the main console, folding her arms with an unimpressed look. “What, you figured you’d learn an art to fall back on in case thieving ever fell through?”

 

He rolled his eyes. “If you must know, once upon a time, my baby sister was a shy teenager. She wanted to learn, but didn’t want to go on her own, so…” He shrugged, leaning against the console next to her.

 

“So you went with her,” she finished for him. “That is...surprisingly sweet of you.”

 

He huffed. “That had better not end up in the paper.”

 

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I’d never waste decent blackmail material.”

 

“Smart girl,” he approved with a soft chuckle. “So, Scarlet’s already made his position clear, but what are your thoughts on the whole ‘soulmate’ thing?”

 

She glanced sideways at him. “Honestly? I don’t even know. I mean, it’s one thing to know someone is your soulmate, but what are you even supposed to do with that knowledge? It’s not like being soulmates makes everything suddenly all sunshine and daisies.”

 

“Certainly not for the pair I know,” he agreed.

 

“That’s right, you know Kendra and Carter. I’m guessing they’re still working out the kinks?”

 

“You’d think after a couple hundred lifetimes they would have everything figured out. Just goes to prove your point, really.”

 

She studied him silently for a moment. “You never said how you felt about it,” she pointed out slowly.

 

“I think this is the universe’s idea of a joke. And I hate being made a punchline,” he stated with a scowl.

 

“You’re not the only one.”

 

Her words gave him pause. He thought back on their conversation, and on the conversation he’d had with Barry before she arrived. Barry had seemed to think Iris would be good for him, and so far she had seemed to be very much on the same wavelength as him. It was enough to make him wonder if maybe, just maybe, Barry had been right.

 

“Still, I can think of worse people to be stuck with,” he hedged, waiting to gauge her response. She thought for a moment, her eyes never leaving his but giving nothing away.

 

“I suppose that’s true. You’re not completely horrible,” she snarked, almost playfully.

 

“Such high praise. I’ll try not to let it go to my head.” he drawled sarcastically, but there was a genuine warmth in his smirk, one that she matched.

 

Now that he’d noticed their similarities, he saw her deflection for what it was. He realised that he understood her better than he’d ever expected, and in that moment of understanding he felt a sudden tug at his navel. This time, when his world realigned, it was to a glorious sense of familiarity. He couldn’t resist the urge to flex his fingers and stretch his neck, reveling in the feeling of being himself again. Next to him, Iris let out a monumental sigh of relief, running one hand through her hair.

 

“Hey guys, I think we figured it out!” Barry announced as he flashed back into the room.

 

“Sorry Flash, you’re a little late to the party,” Len drawled, immensely satisfied to hear his own voice.

 

“We got there on our own,” Iris added, meeting Len’s eyes for just a moment, long enough for Len to realise he wasn’t the only one to have reached an understanding. It made sense really; he and Iris hadn’t really had a connection to speak of, but in their short time together, they’d managed to form one, enough for the spell to release them.

 

“Oh. Well, that’s good. Would kind of suck to find my soulmates only for them to slowly lose their minds,” Barry joked, freezing when he noticed their twin incredulous looks. “Did I forget to mention that part?”

 

“Yes, you did,” Iris informed him darkly.

 

“Well, everything is fixed, so there’s no need to worry.”

 

“Honestly, Barry, sometimes it boggles my mind that you’ve survived this long.” Len drawled.

 

“It’s a daily struggle,” Iris sighed dramatically.

 

After a few moments, the easy camaraderie morphed into an awkward silence as they all felt the weight of their recent revelation. It was clear that all three were stalling, none of them quite sure how to traverse this strange new terrain.

 

“Alright, who wants to poke the elephant in the room?” Len finally drawled, having gotten sick of watching the loaded looks between the younger pair.

 

“Well, you just did,” Iris pointed out. “I really don’t know what more there is to say.”

 

“What?” Barry sputtered. “Of course there’s more to say. We’re soulmates!”

 

“And what, exactly, does that mean, Barry?” Iris asked honestly. “Because I don’t know.”

 

“Well...neither do I, really,” he admitted. “But I do know that I want to find out. Don’t you?” Barry looked at her imploringly and the room was quiet as Iris deliberated, her eyes flicking back and forth between the pair of them.

 

“Yeah,” she said finally. “I guess I do.”

 

Barry turned to Len. “What about you?”

 

Leonard found himself under the full force of Barry’s imploring puppy eyes, combined with Iris’s intense scrutiny. It reminded him of the spark of want he’d felt earlier. Len had never claimed he was not a greedy man and what the universe was apparently offering was oh so tempting.

 

“I think,” he drawled slowly, keeping them in suspense, “that I’m going to get shot.”

 

“Joe’s not gonna shoot you,” Barry grumbled, to which Iris scoffed.

 

“Barry. Be serious.”

 

“...okay, if he does, I promise to catch the bullets.”

 

“Well, you’ll certainly be handy to have around,” Len commented just a little suggestively. He sobered. “I will say this, though; I don’t change for anybody. Not even a soulmate.”

 

“That’s...fair, I guess,” Iris answered. Beside her, Barry nodded, but he wore a knowing smile. Leonard was fairly certain he should not find that look as endearing as he did.

 

“We should probably let the others know the problem’s solved,” Barry suggested, and they stepped out to join the others. “And then after, maybe we can-” Barry’s words were cut off by sudden shouts echoing from the next room.

 

“Be caref- NO DON’T!”

 

Barry flashed forward, followed by Iris and Len running at a human pace. They arrived to see the box once holding the idol knocked to the floor, Mick standing stock still with the idol in his hand, his reflexes having reached out to catch it before he could stop himself. His eyes were locked on the person across the room who looked as though they had been knocked off balance. They looked back, apparently horrified.

 

“Well, fuck.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Insert Mick Rory ship of your choice.
> 
> I feel like this is mildly ooc for everyone, but meh.
> 
> "Phrasing" is an Archer reference, for those who may be confused.


End file.
